TEACHERS !!!! LEARN FIRST , THEN TEACH

Students rejoiced, while teachers were upset. Occasion : publication of the results of the Tamilnadu Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). The results are not  unexpected.  Only 2,448 teachers could pass out of 6,76,763, who appeared for the TET in july 2012. What has been well-known is now confirmed with hard data. The present system of education does not necessitate up gradation of knowledge and skills by the teachers.

It is an irony that security of job is an incentive for indifference to teaching by a large proportion of teachers in government schools as teaching is considered a soft job in the protected (government) sector. “Talkative Teacher Shifted”: headline of New Indian Express of August 30. A teacher at the government school at Pudukovil in Tamilnadu was transferred to another school because the students and parents complained to the authorities that she was always speaking over the mobile during class hours without bothering to teach. Is this a punishment ? what happens to the students in the new school? God Only Knows. This teacher is not an exception. She represents a large number of mobile addicts.

The RTE Act mandates that teachers handling standards 1 to 8 at present and candidates aspiring to become teachers in future should pass the TET in order to improve the quality of education. Primary school education is the foundation of higher levels of learning, and it should be solid. Hence teachers at this level should be well qualified. Teacher training now lacks quality and rigor. Continuous teacher education programmes need to be a regular feature to ensure education of high quality. Teacher evaluation by students annually can be an effective tool of performance improvement; this can be done confidentially by the teachers themselves. The noble mission of teaching demands commitment from the teachers.

A TRIBUTE TO MY TEACHERS

Teaching and medical practice are the noblest of all professions: One shapes lives and the other saves lives

Ayyappan Nair Sir was my first teacher. Even after 70 years his ever- smiling face and the interesting way of teaching are vivid in my memory.

In high school, I was scoring single digit marks in mathematics. Then came a new mathematics teacher: Sivaraman Nair Sir; I was in the 9th standard. A fascinating teacher, he demystified mathematics learning:  (1) 0 to 9 reveal endless combinations of magic and beauty, so love numbers; (2) relax and problem-solving becomes easy; (3) understand the problem; (4) proceed step by step. My scores in mathematics since then were between 90 and 100.When I started teaching MA students, I could enable them to appreciate and understand Research Methodology, which is considered a hard subject, thanks to the methods of Sivaraman Nair Sir.

English grammar was a nightmare in our school days. Ramaswami Iyer Sir, a retired teacher from government service, joined our school while I was in the 8th standard. He told on the first day itself to practise: "I do, you do , we do, they do, he does , she does and it does". Master these and you master a part of grammar said Iyer Sir. One of his learning games was "I know that you know that we know that they know that he knows that she knows that it knows". Each student had to repeat these with varying speed. It was great fun and Iyer Sir made learning English grammar and composition sweet and simple.

Years later, Dr.Palan (Malaysia- based management consultant and trainer) in his book "Learning is Fun" complimented me and our teacher late Dr.M.T.Paul for making learning a fun , while Palan was a student. It is a great tribute from a former student which I accept with humility. In turn, I pay my tributes to my revered teachers.

POLITICAL PSYCHOPATHS

A psychopath is a person who is insensitive to the pain and sufferings of others. Serial crimes are often committed by "Psychopaths". They derive joy from their criminal acts and have no remorse in their action.

The people of Karnataka  is hit by a severe drought, the worst in decades. The highly conscientious MLAs of the state thought that a 15-day study tour abroad would help find an answer to the state's problems. The first batch of 14 MLAs  went to South America with their families. They felt that they should first enjoy , may be to prepare their minds to internalise serious issues. Thus the study tour became a paid vacation for the MLAs at the cost of the public exchequer from the tax payers' money. Arnab Goswamy, Editor-in-Chief of Times Now, has been in the forefront of a relentless campaign against the callous and remorseless pleasure hunt of the elected representatives belonging to all political parties. The national outrage against their despicable tour forced the CM to react by recalling the MLAs and cancelling future " study tours" of this nature. The Karnataka state's action is a challenge to our democracy and the criminal justice system in the country.

ALARMING INCREASE OF SUICIDES

1,35,585 suicides in India in 2010 according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. The ten-year period from 2001 to 2010 witnessed an alarming increase of 25 % in the number of suicides strangely in Kerala, the state with the highest literacy rate, the rate of suicide was 25.3 per one lakh population, which is more than twice that of the All India average. The reported reasons for suicides in 2010 were : family problems (24.3%) ,illness (19.6%) , failure in love  (3.4%), drug and other addiction  (2.7%) , dowry disputes (2.4%) , financial problems (2.2%) , poverty (1.7%), other causes (26.7%), and unknown factors (17.0%). A highly distressing feature is the growing incidence of suicides among adolescent boys and girls.

Suicide is the culmination of the existential conflict in a human being. It has been an universal phenomenon in all societies. The seeds of the self destructive act of suicide are usually sown during the early childhood. According to Eric Berne’s Transactional Analysis theory, the messages that the growing person’s inner child received from parents and significant others translate into the growing person’s life script. The subsequent life experiences, interactions and relationships are crucial in the formation of personality of the individual. The famous French sociologist  Emile Durkheim’s book ‘Suicide’, published in 1897, is considered a sociological classic on suicide and the existing sociological theories are influenced by Durkheims’s work. Suicides, according to Durkheim, are of four types : fatalistic, altruistic, anomic and egoistic.

Studies of survivors of suicide attempts reveal that they wanted to survive having tried to kill themselves. Suicide prevention needs a multi-pronged approach. For instance, suicides by indebted farmers could be averted by sympathetic action from the government and lending agencies. The reasons of suicides in India mentioned earlier are only triggering factors. Ultimately, the capacity to cope with stress and problems in living would decide the course of action an individual might choose. Helplines, counseling centres, and support from various agencies will help prevent many suicides. Suicide prevention and mental health education should start from our schools.

BARBARIC PRACTICES IN TWENTY FIRST CENTURY : Chaining and Caning the Mentally ill

Traditional healers are almost unanimous in their “understanding (?)” of mental illness: possession of the person by evil spirits. So faith healers keep the mentally ill in fetters on the belief that the divine spirit would pass through the fetters and heal the person.  Exorcists beat the mentally ill with cane and this practice has the general acceptance of the families of the patients.

Eleven years ago (in August 2001), the nation was shocked when 28 mentally ill patients were charred to death in a faith-healing home in Erwadi in Tamilnadu. They were chained and hence could not escape when fire broke out. The Supreme Court took  up the matter suo motu, and gave notices to the central and state governments on the violations of human rights of the mentally ill. Subsequently, the governments issued orders regarding the proper maintenance of homes for the mentally sick. Yet ill-maintained institutions continue to function; and the mentally ill continue to be chained. Even the well-known Institute of Mental Health in Chennai functions more like a jail than a health centre about which reports appeared in the media in the recent past. The distinct mental health programme initiated by the government in some districts is reported to be far from successful.

An estimated 85 million persons (7%) in India suffer from some form of mental disorder ;  those suffering from serious mental illnesses constitute around 1 per cent of the population (nearly 12 million). Early detection and correct treatment would prevent the wastage of precious human resources. Ignorance and fear of social stigma discourage families from seeking timely psychiatric treatment. Mental health education and primary mental health services are to be the crucial components of the health care system. Movies and TV serials portray the mentally ill in an insensitive manner, contributing to greater social negativism. A society that neglects the mental health of its people will be doing so at its own peril.

PLANNING TO LET PEOPLE DIE

The Planning Commission has done it again after its highly controversial and insensitive fixation of the minimum amount needed for subsistence in rural and urban areas. This time it has hit public health. In its draft approach paper for the 12^th Plan, the commission recommends greater role for the private sector in healthcare, India’s healthcare system already is amongst the privatised health care systems in the world. Public expenditure on health in India was just 29.2% of the total spending on health in contrast to the global average of 62.8% according to the World Bank data for 2010.

Government of even developed nations like Canada and Norway bear most of the expenditure on public health. At the same time, abysmally low amount is spent on public health by the Indian State ; that is , just 1.2% of the GDP. Strangely, Planning Commission proposes 1.58% of the GDP towards government spending on health in the 12^th Plan and steadily increasing role for the private sector in health care, which is described as retrograde in an editorial of the New Indian Express. The majority of the Indian population goes to government hospitals for medical care. But nearly 75% of the medicines required for the patients are to be bought from the open market. Consequently, a large number of patients do not get adequate and timely treatment. Medicines in the market, which are often branded, are prohibitively expensive. Thus millions die of diseases which could be cured at the government hospitals  with medicines in sufficient stock. Surveys have shown that medical expenses are important causes of indebtedness of low income households in the country. To expect the private hospitals to be the major provider of health care in the Indian context is not planning but deception. The Planning Commission’s proposal  Bill add-to-more avoidable deaths in India.

MENTORS OR TORMENTORS ?

Mata (mother) , Pita (Father), Guru (Teacher) and Deva (God) ; the order of worship prescribed by the scriptures. Family and School are two basic social institutions that help shape  the personalities of children.  Teachers are expected to be the mentors  of the growing children. But today many schools and teachers give nightmares to the children and the parents. The traditionally known  sacred Guru-Shishya relationship has been replaced by the predator-prey like relationship in many schools. Sexual abuse , beating, forcing children to drink urine, forcibly cutting the hair of female students, discrimination in awarding marks, humiliation causing suicide, and other forms of cruelty are common practices resorted to by many teachers. In private schools there is an authority called correspondent, who, in most schools, is an autocrat, inaccessible even to the teachers. Parent-Teacher associations (PTAs) are often without any meaningful roles. Many parents are afraid to complain about the genuine grievances of their children for fear of victimization, Conformity is what the schools and the teachers expect , creativity of the young minds is a casualty in the present educational environment. A thorough restructuring is necessary to protect our precious children.